I posted something recently about using the Old Testament Law as kind of a checklist of living life under New Testament Grace. It occurs to me that the Bible gives a better indication of how to tell if one is living the life: Jesus said, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” And in Galatians, We are told that the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” That’s an interesting description.
I won’t pretend to have a perfect record in any of those categories, and I hope that you wouldn’t believe me if I did make such a claim. I have a temper, and sometimes I have a hard time finding peace, just with myself. I have been known to be longsuffering, but I have also been known to have a short fuse. More than once I have really gone off on a person because I was trying to be longsuffering with someone else, and an innocent bystander just happened to come in and step on my last nerve (some of the victims of my wrath have been less than forgiving with me—not that I blame them—because they knew that what they had done really didn’t justify my response). Overall, though, I think that my general attitude is more characterized by those traits than not. Of course, now that I have said that, someone will probably point out to me areas where I have fallen short, and that I was not aware of. That’s okay; that will help me, in the long run.
The point is, you really shouldn’t judge someone else (Matthew 7:1), even if you think that you are a good fruit inspector, but you can judge yourself. Keep in mind, that you are human, and you make mistakes (just like I do), so, on any given day, you can probably find fault with yourself, with regard to the above list. Under normal circumstances, how do you behave?
Do you care about the people around you (even the ones that get on your nerves)? Jesus told us in John 15:13 that great love would include a willingness to lay down one’s life for others, and he set the example for us. Are we ready to do the same for other people? 1 John 3:16-17 reminds us of the kind of love we should have for those around us. Is there joy in your life (even when you are feeling guilty about your shortcomings)? Nehemiah tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and Joel tells us that everything goes bad where there is no joy. Do you have peace in your life (and I don’t mean the peace that comes from having a scapegoat handy)? Jesus said that He would give us peace. Malachi 2:5 talks about a covenant of life and peace. Are you longsuffering (can you keep your temper, even when the people that you care about the most do the things that upset you the most)? Jesus said, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19) Are you gentle (can you endure the pain of a hurt relationship in order to keep from hurting someone else)? 2 Corinthians 10:1 and Titus 3:2 talk about the importance of both gentleness and meekness… Are you good (of course not, there is but one good, and He is in Heaven—but do you do the best that you can)? Do you have faith in God (if He brought you to it, He’ll bring you through it)? Jesus said that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, that you can move mountains, but so often we can only cry out, help thou mine unbelief. Are you meek? Moses was meek—some people confuse meekness with timidity; Moses was meek, but he wasn’t timid (at least, not usually). The Bible says that the meek shall inherit the earth (not sure I want it, but it sounds like that was intended to be a good thing—and it does say that we will live in peace). Are you temperate (Can you control your temper)? In Second Peter we are given a list of things that we should be adding to our faith, and temperance is one of those things.
None of us has a perfect record (all have sinned), but a true Christian can maintain most of these things most of the time, and God can cover what we can’t do. That’s what Grace is all about.
I won’t pretend to have a perfect record in any of those categories, and I hope that you wouldn’t believe me if I did make such a claim. I have a temper, and sometimes I have a hard time finding peace, just with myself. I have been known to be longsuffering, but I have also been known to have a short fuse. More than once I have really gone off on a person because I was trying to be longsuffering with someone else, and an innocent bystander just happened to come in and step on my last nerve (some of the victims of my wrath have been less than forgiving with me—not that I blame them—because they knew that what they had done really didn’t justify my response). Overall, though, I think that my general attitude is more characterized by those traits than not. Of course, now that I have said that, someone will probably point out to me areas where I have fallen short, and that I was not aware of. That’s okay; that will help me, in the long run.
The point is, you really shouldn’t judge someone else (Matthew 7:1), even if you think that you are a good fruit inspector, but you can judge yourself. Keep in mind, that you are human, and you make mistakes (just like I do), so, on any given day, you can probably find fault with yourself, with regard to the above list. Under normal circumstances, how do you behave?
Do you care about the people around you (even the ones that get on your nerves)? Jesus told us in John 15:13 that great love would include a willingness to lay down one’s life for others, and he set the example for us. Are we ready to do the same for other people? 1 John 3:16-17 reminds us of the kind of love we should have for those around us. Is there joy in your life (even when you are feeling guilty about your shortcomings)? Nehemiah tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and Joel tells us that everything goes bad where there is no joy. Do you have peace in your life (and I don’t mean the peace that comes from having a scapegoat handy)? Jesus said that He would give us peace. Malachi 2:5 talks about a covenant of life and peace. Are you longsuffering (can you keep your temper, even when the people that you care about the most do the things that upset you the most)? Jesus said, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19) Are you gentle (can you endure the pain of a hurt relationship in order to keep from hurting someone else)? 2 Corinthians 10:1 and Titus 3:2 talk about the importance of both gentleness and meekness… Are you good (of course not, there is but one good, and He is in Heaven—but do you do the best that you can)? Do you have faith in God (if He brought you to it, He’ll bring you through it)? Jesus said that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, that you can move mountains, but so often we can only cry out, help thou mine unbelief. Are you meek? Moses was meek—some people confuse meekness with timidity; Moses was meek, but he wasn’t timid (at least, not usually). The Bible says that the meek shall inherit the earth (not sure I want it, but it sounds like that was intended to be a good thing—and it does say that we will live in peace). Are you temperate (Can you control your temper)? In Second Peter we are given a list of things that we should be adding to our faith, and temperance is one of those things.
None of us has a perfect record (all have sinned), but a true Christian can maintain most of these things most of the time, and God can cover what we can’t do. That’s what Grace is all about.
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